GBRT February Trials 2025 – Men’s Senior Pairs Preview

After many of the top athletes raced in singles for the November trials, we will have a full-strength start list this Saturday in Boston. Among the senior entrants, there are plenty of boats based out of Caversham, as well as crews from top club and university programmes battling it out in the final open trial of the season.

George Bourne and Douwe de Graaf (Cambridge University BC)

Entering the race as the likely favourites, George Bourne and Douwe de Graaf are among the top athletes in the country and will combine this weekend. Last season, Bourne raced internationally in the single scull but missed out on qualification at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta while De Graaf sat on the edge of the squad, as his first year post-Harvard was spent at Leander and was highlighted with a bronze medal in the four at the Poznan World Rowing Cup. After strong performances in the single in November and in a pair together in December, the Light Blue duo will have their eyes on the top spot on Saturday.

James Robson and Will Stewart (Cambridge University BC/Leander Club)

Possibly the two most experienced athletes in the entry, James Robson and Will Stewart, were the spare pair for the Paris Olympic team and have been within the Caversham set-up for some time. Since winning The Prince Albert Challenge Cup in 2017 while together at Newcastle, they have been together as a pairing on and off, including combining for December trials. Reuniting this weekend, Robson in Cambridge blue and Stewart in Leander pink, they will look to put out a strong first performance for the rowing public to start the Olympiad.

Archie Drummond and James Vogel (Leander Club)

One of the fastest-rising stars in recent years, Archie Drummond rocketed up the rankings during his final year at Washington, having never previously raced higher than the third eight to win a national title from the seven seat in the blue-ribband event. Back home, now rowing out of Leander, he will look to do the same within the national ranks. He finished eighth in the singles at the November trials and will be joined by the more widely experienced James Vogel in the pair this weekend. Vogel has raced in the Leander pink for quite some time and raced as part of both the Project Paris and Project LA groups over the past four years. He will be looking to earn his first senior World Rowing Championship vest this season.

Toby Lassen and Sam Nunn (Oxford Brookes University)

While often the standard bearer in this event, many of Oxford Brookes University’s Paris Olympians are yet to enter the trials process for this season, leaving the top all-burgundy combination coming from Toby Lassen and Sam Nunn. Both products of the conveyor belt of talent at Wallingford, Lassen has won two U23 World Rowing Championships since joining the programme from Great Marlow School, alongside three Henley Royal Regatta titles. Nunn has an even greater pedigree, having been part of the four that went unbeaten throughout 2022before falling out of favour within the Caversham set-up. Back in Wallingford, the duo will be looking to show the depths of their speed over the 5km course to place themselves in a strong position for the Olympiad to come.

Saxon Stacey and Felix Rawlinson (Oxford University)

While many top athletes were forced into singles for the first round of trials this season, there was still a large entry of unfunded athletes into the pairs. The best of these was Saxon Stacey and Felix Rawlinson of Oxford University who finished first in a group of three crews who were all within 0.7 seconds of each other in Boston. Stacey is an old Etonian and former junior world champion who remains eligible for U23 selection. Alongside him is Rawlinson, an All-American at Dartmouth who has returned home to the UK, seeking to race in the Dark Blue this spring at The Boat Race. The duo will face a stiff test this weekend to defend their top spot but have the skills to put themselves up there with the best in the country.

Also worth keeping an out for in Oxford blue will be James Doran, arguably the top Brit on the squad this year. His partner remains unknown at this time but I would expect that whomever is placed with the project LA member will be capable of tearing up the timesheets this weekend.

Matthew Heywood and Luca Ferraro (Cambridge University)

Doran’s pairs partner at the World Rowing Cup last summer in Poznan now sits opposite him in the sport’s oldest rivalry as Matthew Heywood teams up with Cambridge President Luca Ferraro. Heywood joins the Light Blues from Oxford Brookes, where he was a serial winner, claiming three red boxes across The Temple, Ladies and Grand Challenge Cups in back-to-back seasons and an U23 world championship. Here, he is joined by serial Boat Race winner Ferraro, who also has two age-group world titles. After sitting on opposite sides of trial eights, they will come together to perform in the pair this weekend, with the potential to achieve a truly impressive placing if all goes right.

Tom Ballinger and Miles Beeson (Leander Club)

Another strong offering from the pink palace, Ballinger and Beeson made their senior international debuts together last year as part of the GBR2 four, who reached the A-final at the Poznan World Rowing Cup. Before this, the two had carved remarkably different paths. Beeson was twice a junior international and thrice a U23 world champion while rowing at Yale University, while Ballinger’s only previous international vest came at the Home International Regatta in 2017. Despite these differences, the duo know each other well and will be working together to make the next step towards a solid berth in the senior team.

Josh Burke and Maximillian Deering (Thames RC)

The combination of Josh Burke and Max Deering comes from the premier club rowing centre in the UK. Third place in the pair at the November trials, the Thames RC pair were less than a second away from victory, so they will be looking to put up a strong performance against a more accomplished start list this weekend. Graduates of the University of London and Dartmouth programmes respectively, Burke and Deering have centred their training on the Tideway this season for Burke’s first with the programme as they eye up a spot within the GB setup.

Prediction

For this one, I simply cannot look past the combination of George Bourne and Douwe de Graaf, two of the most well-regarded stars taking part in the trials with great results at the previous selection events. However, I would expect a strong challenge from elsewhere, particularly from the Robson–Stewart and Lassen–Nunn crews.

About The Author

Fraser Innes

Fraser joined the JRN team in September 2022 and regularly writes about domestic and international rowing with particular specialisation on US Collegiate Rowing having launched JRN’s coverage and being a staple on the End of the Island’s series on the topic. He has been involved with the sport since 2016 at George Heriot’s School and the Universities of Glasgow and Wisconsin.

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